No Bicep Gains You Don’t Understand how to Curl

 

��5 WORST Bicep Curl Mistakes You’re Doing (STOP!)��

Video taken from the channel: V Shred


 

Bicep Curls Gone Bad (BIG MISTAKE!!)

Video taken from the channel: ATHLEAN-X™


 

STOP Doing Bicep Curls LIKE THIS! (3 MISTAKES Costing You BIGGER BICEPS)

Video taken from the channel: SuperHuman You


 

Get Big Biceps (AVOID THESE 5 MISTAKES!)

Video taken from the channel: ATHLEAN-X™


 

Don’t Make these Bicep Curl Mistakes if You Want to Build Big Biceps

Video taken from the channel: Mind Pump TV


 

Why Your Biceps Aren’t Growing (NOT WHY YOU THINK!)

Video taken from the channel: Ryan Humiston


 

Bicep “Non-Responder” Solution (BICEPS WON’T GROW!)

Video taken from the channel: ATHLEAN-X™


Make sure you don’t sway your hips when you do a bicep curl – if you do, regain control and form by performing the move sitting down. And it’s important to mix up your curls a little. The Curl-Free Biceps Workout This workout combines pulling movements with grip variety and a bit of directional change to hit every area of your arms. Do each exercise back-to-back, rest for 2 to 3.

Bicep tendon tears can be serious, but many respond to nonsurgical treatment, such as rest and physical therapy. Surgery is a first line of treatment in some cases. Learn more here. The biceps curl is a basic exercise that everybody is familiar with, but many lifters don’t know how to do them as well as they think.

These three tips will help you get the most gains from curls. Mechanical tension is the main mechanism behind muscle hypertrophy (growth) and strength gains. Bicep Curl Variations.

Here’s something you might NOT know about learning how to do a bicep curl: there are many different ways you can change up the speed and tempo to create more time under tension for your biceps giving them more strength for the time you are working. The no-money banded curl creates resistance through flexion and external rotation as you pull the band apart, while the banded drag curl shifts focus to the long-head of the bicep. You do not require weights to build strength and endurance in your arms. The biceps exercises without weights can be easily performed at home using your bodyweight.

6 exercises that can help build biceps without weights include isometric biceps curl, hammer curl using a towel, chin-up exercise, diamond push-ups, inverted body weight row, and half moon rotation exercise. If you are strong in those exercises your arms will look good. Good Examples. To the right, you see a picture of CrossFit Athlete Jason Khalipa.

As you probably know crossfitters don’t do bicep curls, but they do pull-ups, rope climbs, muscle-ups, Olympic lifts, etc and his arms look pretty badass from that. For most people struggling to gain size, the biceps aren’t the issue — the problem is all the other muscles around it. (For example, the triceps make up 60 percent of the upper arm, and must. Gymnastic transitions may not seem the most obvious bicep builder, but you only have to look at top Olympic competitors to see how well they work; Gymnasts hold their biceps in a state of contraction for a hours on end, every training day; This is known as an ‘isometric’ contraction, and when used correctly can blow your biceps up like balloons.

List of related literature:

That’s because any time that you have to bend your elbows to lift a weight, you’re training your biceps—whether you’re doing an arm curl, or a classic “back” exercise such as a row or chinup.

“The Men's Health Big Book of Exercises: Four Weeks to a Leaner, Stronger, More Muscular YOU!” by Adam Campbell
from The Men’s Health Big Book of Exercises: Four Weeks to a Leaner, Stronger, More Muscular YOU!
by Adam Campbell
Rodale, 2009

The biceps not only lift and curl the arm, they also rotate the wrist.

“The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding: The Bible of Bodybuilding, Fully Updated and Revis” by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Dobbins
from The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding: The Bible of Bodybuilding, Fully Updated and Revis
by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Dobbins
Simon & Schuster, 2012

A common example is training biceps doing straight bar bicep curls.

“Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness” by Robert Cheeke
from Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness
by Robert Cheeke
Book Publishing Company, 2011

I won’t make the argument that curls don’t do anything—any time you work a muscle directly, it’ll get bigger and stronger.

“The New Rules of Lifting: Six Basic Moves for Maximum Muscle” by Lou Schuler, Alwyn Cosgrove
from The New Rules of Lifting: Six Basic Moves for Maximum Muscle
by Lou Schuler, Alwyn Cosgrove
Penguin Publishing Group, 2005

Ido curls or work the triceps only when Ilookatmyselfand see animbalance.

“The New Evolution Diet: What Our Paleolithic Ancestors Can Teach Us about Weight Loss, Fitness, and Aging” by Arthur De Vany, Nassim Nicholas Taleb
from The New Evolution Diet: What Our Paleolithic Ancestors Can Teach Us about Weight Loss, Fitness, and Aging
by Arthur De Vany, Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Rodale Books, 2010

Curl the bar while keeping the arms in.

“Winning Bodybuilding: A complete do-it-yourself program for beginning, intermediate, and advanced bodybuilders by Mr. Olympia” by Franco Columbu
from Winning Bodybuilding: A complete do-it-yourself program for beginning, intermediate, and advanced bodybuilders by Mr. Olympia
by Franco Columbu
Creators Publishing,

Preacher curls develop the lower area of the biceps.

“Natural Bodybuilding” by John Hansen
from Natural Bodybuilding
by John Hansen
Human Kinetics, 2005

The barbell and dumbbell curls stress the brachialis and short head of the biceps at the expense of the long head of the biceps since the elbow is often in front of the body in these exercises.

“Optimal Muscle Training” by Ken Kinakin
from Optimal Muscle Training
by Ken Kinakin
Human Kinetics, 2009

Whether you’re doing a bicep curl in a chilly gym or talking to world leaders, there are no shortcuts—everything is reps, reps, reps.

“Total Recall” by Arnold Schwarzenegger
from Total Recall
by Arnold Schwarzenegger
Simon & Schuster UK, 2012

Figure 17­1 showsthe bicep curl.

“Prediabetes For Dummies” by Alan L. Rubin
from Prediabetes For Dummies
by Alan L. Rubin
Wiley, 2009

NOAH BRYANT

Hardcore strength training is what I am about. I am a personal trainer, author, and contributor to lots of different lifting and fitness magazines.

I was a 2x NCAA champion in the shoutput at USC and I represented the USA at the 2007 World Championships as well as the 2011 PanAm Championships.

Contact me to find out more about my personalized online training and how I can help you reach your goals.

Education: Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Public Policy, Planning, And Development @ University of Southern California

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157 comments

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  • I love how other people have to explain it’s better to rotate while using dumbbells and you’ll never know why but this man can just show you with his bicep

  • It’s a bicep curl it’s really not that hard. It been if you have a little swing are you flex your shoulder, you’re still working out. You’re not going to injure yourself or anything. And honestly if you put swing into it, that’s just a natural mechanism of your body, and it probably would fade as you get stronger anyways

  • I do don’t know if a ton else had this problem but I need help. I did an intense bicep work out and I was left sore for about a week and a week after the soreness (or at least that’s when I noticed) my left bicep feels soft and won’t flex to it’s maximum. When I flex it it badly goes up and it’s still squishy it doesn’t fell hard at all

  • I really should post some before and after pictures of how much progress I’ve made since I started watching these videos. At the age of 47-48, I have made progress that was lacking for years and the only differences in my training have been adding an inversion table and watching Athlean-x channel! Awesome stuff!

  • What if you can’t supinate do to injuries? I was hurt in the military and I can no longer supinate/pronate my right forearm/wrist. Any suggestions?

  • After doing a few bicep curl at the beginning my bicep acts like a bitch and won’t go all the way… it feels like a balloon resisting

  • Over time you are going to jack up your wrists turning them that much. Dude the ways you showed are not wrong just different. The bicep is still getting worked. Everybody curls a little different or switch it up.

  • This gave me an idea. Off set dumbells.

    When setting up the weight, have a lower weight touching your hand and heavier weight at the bottom so when you turn your wrist it’s much more difficult

  • Just refound this “old” gem and immediately started seeing results in my bicep gains (its EFFIN SORE!!! and grows like a weed) by doing Rope Curls, the suspination pump feels GREAT!!! THX JEFF!

  • What I do to keep from swinging is to put my back against a rail to keep from swinging.I see a lot of bros swinging their weights instead of using lighter weights and using a correct form.

  • Hi guys I never gets any notification of your video I have already subscribed…Have you guys have any filter on your channel…Plzz do something.. I have to go to subscribe folder and see select the videos manually..

  • True, but don’t use “overload” when you mean “load”. “Overload” means “too much”, and should refer only to attempts to cause muscle damage.

  • Hey man! This video was extremely helpful but i still cant figure out whats going on with me. My left arm is significantly smaller than my right. I train with very strict form and because of this i do pretty much only unilateral movements for arms but i cant seem to even them up. My left bicep can never really get that full contraction and same with my tricep and whenever i’m doing curls or tricep workouts my delts on my left side spaz out, my lats activate and it feels very odd. I cant find any info about this online and i’m getting very discouraged. I have no idea what to do and it looks really bad. �� Please help.

  • I can give a tip to the guys with adjustable dumbbells.
    Just load one side more and make the supination harder. Trust me it works really nice and gives good results

  • Don’t forget that the exercise is specific to the goal. If your goal is to lift heavy, then explosive movements is the way to go. If your goal is to grow the muscle, then slow and strained is the right path. Personally, I have no interest in looking like a body builder.

  • I saw this guy on youtube years ago when he was only with 300to400 views i used to ignore his videos but one day i just clicked on his video and since then we watch his each and every exercise….. Awesome work dude and great progress from 300 to millions isn’t a joke…�������� Good job

  • Good video as usual thanks. I have got another source that inspired me alot. The mindset is not far different but something there could help https://youtu.be/xakzfzO_Z-4

  • I have always had a problem flexing my left bicep and I still do. But I recently tried what Jeff said I can definitely feel more contraction in my left bicep. Wont say my flexing problem is fixed but it definitely good to see some sort of improvement! Thanks Jeff

  • I don’t know why, but “the hardest part of the curl is the middle” sounds like an Elton John song ����
    Could someone please turn this into a song?! Please!

  • Standing bb or standing DB curls is a mid-range exercise that works the belly of the bicep… cheating on all your reps is cheating principal gone bad! It’s a pumping exercise hence the term pumping iron…. you need to prioritize your lower bicep to fill the gap between your elbow…. do you know how to do that!

  • So I used to workout a lot. I used to get a pretty good pump on my biceps and triceps etc… I recently started working out hard again. My back, chest, and pretty much my entire body gets pumped after a good workout. But my biceps aren’t. Every time I work them out they just get weaker during the workout. Not swollen or pumped with blood. I feel no tightness in them as my workout progresses. Instead I feel like I’m not activating my bicep during the workout. It just feels weak. When I’m working out and I get all that blood flowing to those muscles I can flex them and it feels good feeling that pumped muscles. But I can’t even flex my biceps properly their so weak. Anyone know what I’m talking about?

  • I have been lifting for 33 years and always had trouble hitting my biceps. All the other muscles seemed to want to work for them. Today, I watched this video, got up, went into my weight room (yup. I work out at home with Olympic bars and the whole lot) and tried these with the grip that has the strapping on it. I have never used that one before because I thought it was a joke thrown in with my other gear to make me feel like the shop gave me a free gift. I will be using that grip all the time now! Thanks so much for the tip!!!!

  • Being working out at the gym for over 2 year on and off and my biceps look like I have never lifted a weight before. Will definitely give this a try. Thanks Jeff!

  • Terrible! If you do curls with a big weight and stretch your hand all the way down you might end up with a torn tendon! The risk is even higher if you’re on roids! Rotating an arm inwards while curling won’t work either with a big weight!

  • your a smart dude. thanks and always appreciate how you explain everything very simple and to the point! Particularly love the flat foot while squatting technique. Has always been an issue for me.

  • Hi Jeff, I have tried what you have advised for a while now but I’m still finding my forearms are doing most of the work instead of my biceps. Could you please do a video on some more activation exercises for biceps please? Thank and love learning from you

  • An excellent, well thought out presentation. I lost my mo-Jo since the gyms been shut, down but I think I just found it. Thank you Mr. Humiston. I am online searching for a home gym. Be well, stay safe.

  • Excellent advice, I only struggle with my left bicep responding for some reason, whatever form I use on the right, seems to pump it beyond belief. I compensate with reps and loads of them and have seen nice growth but the peak of my left bicep won’t form, on the first attempt at this addition, my left bicep finally felt as fatigued as the right! Subscribed!

  • Youre a fucking genius, my left bicep is like 1 inch smaller than my right and i had no idea that my right arm was doing it right and my left wasnt hahahahahaha

  • Yeah partial RoM makes sense. I was too long focused on full RoM and for the longest time it felt like I was only blasting my tendons. That connection thing is everything now.

  • If you’re trying to break a plateau though, you’re going to have to use a little momentum to lift heavier weights. For beginners, strict curls are definitely they way to go.

  • MAN DO YOU EVEN TRAIN? WHAT DO YOU WEIGH 150 LBS SOAKING WET AND YOU WANT TO GIVE ADVICE? WHAT TO ALL THE PENCIL NECK GEEKS THAT WANT TO GET UP TO YOUR WEIGHT! THAT FACE SURE IS SMOLLEN WONDER WHAT YOU BEEN DOING!

  • Thank you for demonstrating drag curls! I could not perform drag curls with a barbell at a gym because my wrist hurt. I exercise with dumbbells, and now I’ve got a better idea on doing drag curls, with dumbbells; that I prefer.

  • I’ve noticed how this video aims for the supination (does a great job in doing), but that will generally hit the short head of the bicep. What about the long head?

  • Thank you for the tips in this video and the previous one! I’ve been working out weekly for a few years without much noticeable improvement despite increasing the weight. Hopefully this will make a difference!

  • My elbow had injury and now I can barely turn it when doing curls to maximize contraction. Is there an exercise to overcome this? Thanks

  • Sorry bro but your tips are helpful,but saying people are doing curls wrong cos they don’t flick the wrist or put the arms all the way down.Ive done drag curls,alternate dumbbell curls,hammers and I have 20s I also got my recent pro card.You might wanna say here are some tips not here are some tips cos the other way is wrong When you contract a muscle thru heavy training to failure,YOU GROW!

  • Actually as a physical therapist, your first flick of the wrist technique is completely wrong, it puts undue stress on the wrist and forearm, if you’ve been lifting as long as you say you have, you have poor genetics or just don’t know anything about nutrition and your body. Overall not a good video, if you want meatier biceps and development then perform more isolation exercises like bent-over dumbbell curls and using the Arm Blaster. In no way should you ever use a tricep or any other muscle group to perform a bicep exercise, that would be defeating the whole purpose. Your making rookie beginner mistakes. I guarantee your gonna get arthritis in your wrist before you even hit 40. No need to thank me for the free advice

  • At 53 years old, I can say that this (see video link) has always been the most aggravating part of trying to stay strong and grow. Everyone telsl you something different. I want to trust AthleanX (and I do), BUT there is always someone telling you that the other guy is doing it wrong. On top of that, after decades of reading and listening to the “experts”, I find that EVERY muscle head in the gym and EVERY video of any well-known bodybuilder that we’ve ever seen shows these guys doing EVERYTHING we have been told for decades not to do. Swing weights, drop weights after lift instead of lowering slowly, etc.
    Anyway, enough ranting, watch this video. Especially you Jeff. I’d love to hear what you think of what this guy is saying.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot2QgK5K_Hg

  • Thats all bullshit im 220 pounds off hard rock muscle and my biceps are more bigger and more ripped then your bro full range of motion all was worked for me thats how aronald did thats how ive done it and don’t give me that bullshit of genetics i went from being escalator to a beast after over 10 years of development genetics have nothing to do with it its fuckin hard ass work and pushing the max. Ya keeping it short and finding ur sweet spot works but u can find it with full range motion by doing lighter weights and concentrating on your biceps muscles. U say some good stuff but today ur talking out ur ass.

  • Wanna get stronger faster? Do 10 reps of your 1 rep max..you will have to use your off-hand to help lift the weight..I went from doing 20lb max dumbbell curl to 30lb max in like 2 months..but i didnt gain much size ������

  • The function of the biceps is to flex the elbow and supinate the forearm, so if people are not doing both, they are already missing half of their biceps development.
    Also, it is important to understand that the full range of motion of the biceps starts from a fully extended arm behind your back (seated incline biceps curls) up to a fully contracted biceps at the top of your head (cable curls behind your head) via the mid-range (biceps curls with arms slightly in front of you).
    Working with your full range of motion, with optimal execution (as far as possible) will help you, even if you do not have perfect genetics

  • I can get a good connection with most bicep exercises but for some reason a preacher curl using cable and the EZ type bar is the best and has my biceps hurting for a week after!

  • I’ve tested this two days ago before seeing this video because I noticed more of a pump.

    Shortening the range keeps the tension and stress on the muscles

  • I like what you say Ryan, makes a lot of sense. I’m 62 and have been using weights since I was 17. Very heavy ones at times, long story short age and injuries I’ve had to adapt. Lighter weight and more reps and exactly as you say RESULTS!! Keep it up lad. Peter uk

  • No. Doing it this way will cause a distel biceps tare, cause you’re putting too much stress on the tendon.

    Arnold never did it your way, and look at his biceps.

  • I thought that lower weight and high reps was primarily for cutting and creating definition and that heavy weight and lower reps were for growth.

  • Bicep mostly fast twitch muscle fiber right? So we should more focus on heavy and low reps right?
    Though include all varities like light weight, high reps, different angles for optimal result.

  • I’ve become a fan. I like shorter videos with lots of information. Good job. I’m 68 and recovering from cancer. Want to get something back. I’m following this guy, and Brian shaw because he’s funny.

  • Too many ego lifters in the gym end up hurting serious muscle or body injuries focus on what your working towards better your self not your ego. Js

  • Awesome video man! The 3rd problem started happening to me and I just found out that I was trying to look big while doing curls by flexing my lats and making myself look as wide as possible, but when I relax my lats, I start feeling more of my bicep.

  • I’ve been using dumbbells in my home for years, and tried many times to find a video on proper form and technique; this is everything I’ve looked for and more. Thank you so much for sharing and being freely informative.

  • THANKYOU.. I’ve Finally been gettin the results with lighter weights and higher reps.. with heavier weight I dont get the pump coz other muscles are doing the work.

  • once again moron you don’t know what you’re talking about beginners with less muscle need full range of motion in order to engage the muscle fiber from one end to the other it’s only after you’ve gained a significant amount of muscle that using partial reps become effective what the f*** are you even talking about?

  • Good teacher because he’s always pointing out what not to do too,we’ve got soo many videos on what to do that works and nowhere near enough videos on what NOT to do!

  • A standing barbell or dumbbell curl is a mid-range exercise… Which means that it works the belly of the bicep… to work the lower bicep is best suited for incline curls… To work the top of the bicep is best suited for hanging curls! You need to work on incline curls and reverse curls… To close the gap between your bicep and your forearm! Avoid ego lifting!

  • Ok i hope a professional sees this. So my trainer gave me a course of 3 days where i do the same exercises twice a week and rest for a day. The course consist of legs and abs first day, back and shoulders the second day, and arms (bi, tri, and forearm) and chest, then repeat. So i’ve heard overtraining is bad. So i’m just asking, am i overtraining my arms? Because considering the strength in my arms, i’m very strong compared to what they look like. I’m bothered by it as when i was younger my arms were not an issue and i could easily get them in shape, but it is only recently that i started having trouble with arms and cant seem to be able to get them more defined, its just one chunk of meat that looks like Everest. Please help.

  • You don’t have much technical knowledge in exercise.

    1. that wrist rotation is called supinating,
    2. you can’t avoid activating deltoid for bicep exercise, because that is where the bicep originate. Moving your elbow behind your back world shift the weight from short head to long head and that would make the different purpose.

  • Exemplary work. I read/owned Arnold’s Encyclopedia. I am genuinely and authentically enthusiastic to learn more from you. Keep at it. Also, Kardashev level III has a lot of energy you can get behind whenever you remember that the US is still in a budget deficit.

  • Hi thanks for the advice and keep up the great work and stay motivated and keep doing you and have a great day �� excellent job on the video

  • TL;DW

    1) Partial Reps to Increase Time Under Tension
    2) Lighter Weight to hit 30 Reps
    3) Disregard the Exercises that Do Not Engage your Biceps Optimally
    [If exercise A gets you the best pump, then hit exercise A frequently. If the popular exercise B does not engage your biceps well, discard it from your routine.]

  • Great job, Jeff….I also make sure that I lower my arm absolutely straight down, then bring up the weight without trying to jerk it up…if that’s the case, I go to a weight that I feel comfortable with….
    Thanks for this!!

  • I curl heavy and i have also bigger arms than you you should look up kirill monster bisep curl then you will learn how to get big fucking arms

  • i got big biceps by swinging mistakenly but it works however. just maintain steroids. in workout stamina which matter not the form.

  • This is a great time to point out that you can’t get bicep veins the size of sharpies unless you shoot steroids at least for a few cycles in your lifetime.

  • Great video sir. Just subscribed. Those arms are the truth brah. I’ll be listening. Keep putting out the good content. Good stuff sir. Thanks..

  • Over extension on the top is not necessarily a mistake buddies, that’s actually a. Great hack to grow your biceps… after all, the delts are attached to the biceps ����

  • Straighten your shoulders back and you can still curl palms up. It can actually leave more time under tension for the muscle itself. I switch between supinated curs and regular curls with this form. Arms down, palms down, shoulders back. All bicep activation. This will really work a lot of the peak and width. But don’t forget to work both individually.

  • You didn’t explain the pre-posturing involved in the standing barbell curl so I’ll do it for you.
    Referring to the frontal plane: As you stand, picture yourself from the side. Draw an imaginary vertical line that goes through your ankle, knee, hip and shoulder. Next, bend your knees just enough to get them just about one to two inches in front of that line. Next, just barely stick your butt out behind you in that your center of your pelvis is one to two inches behind that line.
    Pull the shoulder blades towards your butt crack.
    Holding the bar, it’s gently resting against your legs. As you begin to raise the bar, pull the elbows back just a touch in that they are behind the imaginary line. Come up to where you feel the elbows trying to go forward (do not let them) and lower the bar slowly.
    Being that it’s a standing long (optional of course) bar curl the legs will interfere with the ability to get hair close to lockout, therefore, the elbows will move barely forward of the frontal plane line to achieve good lengthening in the eccentric phase of the movement.
    Repeat.

  • But you are so wrong with the second one…killing the tension..so wrong…if you stretch completely is wrong.
    You are continuously posing and you are small.
    Not interested in your advisers.
    To small.

  • My shoulders hurt when I do dumbbells 1 Arm at a time, if I do left then right, left then right it’s fine but if I do multiple reps with just left my shoulder aches, like the back of my shoulder more or the top not the front I’m doing the exercise right

  • My ‘goal’ for now is 15 inch biceps. With extreme maximum pump they are 14 inches flexed. They dont grow. I do bicepscurls and hammercurls. I am also using a good form. I do a 90 min upper body workout with 1215 reps. I contract and all the tension is on the biceps. I get frustrated. Any tips?

  • Trap recruitment is a huge problem for me. I have to drive my shoulders down away from my ears and initiate my scapula, lengthening my neck. So hard to retrain after doing it incorrectly for many years

  • Thanks! Will definitely try the 2 exercises at the end. I have a shoulder impingement (biceps tendon, problem is exactly on that spot shown in the video) which always gets worse when I do biceps training. These exercises shown in the video look very promising to prevent that.

  • Try keeping your hands pointed down towards the floor(palms up)as your bringing it up. That will hit your peak. Btw your biceps look good keep hitting those triceps.

  • 1st Building Book I ever read, described EXACTLY Your Advice here!!!
    And at 11 years old,,, with ONLY One 10# dumbbell I DID EXACTLY what You prescribe! Even the Rep Range! (Except for Chest, Back, and Legs. I made My Own Bar out of Pipe and Reversed Bicycle Grip! So I could do reps of 100 for at least 3 sets!!!)
    My Results WERE Bigger and Stronger,,, then the Last 30 Years doing things “the Right Way”!!!
    THANKS!!!!

  • So stupid, I’ve been doing straight curls this whole time wondering why I cant curl more and why my bicep wasn’t thick. Start turning them during the motion and boom I’m curling 40 getting pumped asf.

  • Jeff,
    First, thanks for all the videos. You’ve been the greatest influence in my fitness life.

    Do you have stretching exercises that may help with re-gain full contraction of the bicep and tricep?

    I’ve gotten checked for shoulder impingement and tendinitis, but nothing. Doctors say I’m fine. I believe I’m suffering with the tightness of my shoulders/back that’s holding me back from curling, tricep pressing and benching.

    Let me know if you (or anyone here) videos about this issue others may be suffering.

  • I respectfully disagree. Unless I misunderstood you. I find it easier curling two dumbbells at once. I have one 50 lb dumbell and badly want to go up but am stuck in the two 40s I have. If what you say is true, to go up, I should take the one 50 I have, knock out X amount of reps, then switch hands but I can’t do it! I do 4 sets of 10 reps at 40 lbs, but only 2 reps or so with a 50 lb dumbell for one hand! Again if true shouldn’t I knock it out? But I can’t. I know if I had the other 50 so I have two 50 lb dumbbells I would actually have better balance and knock out more reps!! Just my own observation been trying two years now. My reps with 40 lbs. and sets have gone up, not for the 50 lber!!

  • What does activation mean! That’s a dumbest word in bodybuilding… if I flail my arms all about does that mean I activated my arms???

  • I’m doing his 2 other workouts and it’s not helping. It focuses more on my shoulder no matter what I do. My right side is fine but my left sides shoulder always burns and I can’t do many reps even with light weight. It’s really starting to discourage me.

  • I’m just getting Into working out and I’m getting anal about sets and reps. Does it really matter? Right now I do 2 sets of 12-15 reps for bicep curls. Is it really that much of a difference if I did 3 sets of 8-10 or something?

  • Couldn’t understand why my shoulder kept hurting and you solved it in 60 seconds and now even the injury site doesn’t hurt so I can work out in recovery. Thank you. ��

  • Need your help Jeff. Had a slight labrum repair on my right shoulder. Now when I’m lifting I barley get a pump in that arm. My right arm is my dominant arm, but tends to be weaker some days. My left arm explodes and gets an insane pump. So when I look at my right arm and compare pumps I get discouraged and it stops my focus. What do I do? Do I have scar tissue built up in my shoulder? I need some help. Anyone..

  • for some reason my biceps are getting big but i dont feel any biceps pain when i do the classic curl but in other bicep exercises i feel so much more biceps pain and contraction

  • Great video, really informative stuff. If anyone is interested in how we train professional athletes subscribe to us! Thank you!

  • The weirdest thing in my situation is that when doing curls my left bicep is weaker and overall the contraction doesn’t feel as tight as on my right bicep but afterwards when I have a pump and I flex my left bicep feels a lot harder and solid

  • Guys like this always seemed to offer one bit of great advice, followed by some really uninformed rationale. “Try partial reps” nodding “because maximal bicep contraction just actives the tendon” facepalm

  • No joke, i can see improvement on my biceps after i listen to his advises. Full reps that i usually do just lost tension on my biceps after i bring it all the way down, and all the way up (using front delt) so ya. Cut the range of motion. Actually cut quarter bottom and quarter above. That’s good.

  • You’re full of misinformation on how to work your biceps… activating muscles is what a physical therapist does after an injury…. sounds like you’re following all the other Kooks, in the fitness industry!

  • Give this man some award! My workout has become so much better after following his advices. Now I am more focused on the quality of each repetition than counting how many I can do. This has also developed my technique and I feel more in the muscle which is being trained. Thanks man!

  • Dude! Go put 10 years in the gym and get some muscle before making a video, you have no credibility! Unless you are doing it for your butt pirate buddies then I understand!!!

  • Standing dumbbell curls…your elbow is too far back, bringing your shoulders into the exercise. That is why you don’t gain. Your elbow should be next to your nipple. Try that and feel the burn.

  • Listen up CLOWN!!!! Supination during elbow flexion with a dumbbell doesn’t add ANYTHING to the exercise. A dumbbell obviously has equal weight on each end of the bar: Consequently, the weight on one end acts as a counterweight, thereby negating the intended benefits of the supination. I have a Masters in Kinesiology from Arizona State. I will BET MY LEFT NUT that you have no Kinesiology degree of any kind. You probably don’t even have a basic cert, like NASM. Even their rule about “the muscle opposing the direction of resistance” would teach you that your reasoning is incorrect. You are ill-informed, and clearly UNQUALIFIED to represent yourself as an “expert” in this video. It pisses me off, to see guys that didn’t pay their dues (lots of tuition & years of study) misrepresent themselves as experts, and give out erroneous information!

  • Drive by workout information. Love it. You have a new sub. Been doing something like what you mentioned…however, I will give this a run…see how it turns out.

  • I will never take advice from a steroid user. Besides athlean x has already covered this and he is more qualified to train people. At least know proper terminology if you’re gonna pose as a fitness expert

  • If I want to curl heavy, I just pay a strong guy a few bucks to pump out those reps for me. Then, I’ll go back and do the lighter stuff.

  • I am an ectomorph. 28 years old. 6ft 2. Slim. Am starting to build some muscle.

    Been following athleanx on you tube since last March.

    I train like this:

    Mon: Triceps + Abs
    Tue: Biceps + Abs
    Wed: Shoulders + Abs
    Thur: Back + Abs
    Fri: Chest + Abs
    Sat: Abs only
    Sun: rest

    I try to eat 6 times a day. (Healthy) proteins, carbohydrates etc (no sugar)

    I spend like 40 mins working out everyday, following workouts suggested by Jeff here.

    Does anyone know if I’m doing things correctly?

    Thanks

  • Hey, I’m 14 years old and want to learn to develop muscles while not hurting them while they’re still young, so you have any tips? I bet no one will at this though

  • I found the same thing. It all has to do with contraction. My thought was how do I get the best contraction and this is exactly what I came up with. I found that slow, slow, slow with about a 4 second contraction at the top. Actually 4 seconds up, 4 seconds down and hold in a contracted position for 4 seconds. I get sore every time. This will allow the use of lighter weights, especially when using supersets from heavier to light and then back again. My arms workout is no more than 1 hour every 3-4 days depending on how bad I killed the muscles. Good stuff:-)

  • There is also another way. During flexion, slightly tightening the wings and back muscles to hold and stop your upperarms from moving either forward or backward and to puff your chest out a little bit upwards, hence your forearms are coming up a little bit from the outsides instead of from the inside or the front. That significantly decreases pressure on the frontal deltoid and distributes the entire flexion in your biceps aided with a bit of contribution of back muscles and hind shoulder muscles.

  • Jeff you are technically very sound…. Kudos to you… You actually mastered human muscle anatomy and how to activate certain part of a muscle by exercises that no one ever mentioned….. Love from india ����

  • Ya, don’t think you looked cool wearing those ear buds they are a distraction take them off. You looked unprofessional. and while you drop your arm all the way down you have essentially taken the tension off the bicep. the bicep should have constant tension. this is a proven technique I saw it on Your tube has to be real.

  • No bicep peak comes from doing halfass curls. You got a decent starting physique, but you got no biceps because of how you’re doing them. Drop the damn weight all the way down until your arm is straight. And start throwing in a few sets where you’re throwing your scapula forward to foreshorten the inner bicep head.

  • I don’t do dumbbell curls, only preacher with an ez bar and cable hammer curls, that’s the only movements I do for biceps once a week. Not to brag but I don’t need to do much for them, I’ve only been lifting for 7 months but I have 15 inch arms at 15%bf. This is probably due to my insertions, I have pretty small bicep muscle bellies (can fit 3 fingers) but I have a huge peak and if i pronate my arm it stretches to about 1cm away from my elbow but keeps the crazy peak.

  • All these “how to” videos are pointless… 20-30 reps work for THIS GUY. Partial reps work for THIS GUY.
    Every person requires something different and different rep ranges will work for different people.
    The secret is to experiment to see what works for YOU

  • Tip 3: If you were actually eliminating anterior delt…your arm would fly back as you attempted to raise the weight as it is being used to stabilize the arm(as well as your pecs). And…what makes you think that activation of the anterior delt impacts any biceps gains. I have issues with tip 1 and 2 as well…but I’ll just leave it at that.

    Oh…and I thought the “3 mistakes” were going to be 1. lowering the weight much too fast on the eccentric phase( an actual mistake. 2. Not pausing when at full contraction (not an actual mistake, but a could thing to do from time to time. 3. No idea lol.

  • I had the very issue and worked out biceps for years with results but not to the measure of how much time and effort I spent training while every other muscle responded great to training, never had problems with triceps for example. I figured out that because I had long humerus (I’m tall) and long clavicles, the optimal contraction for me was when both my hands are under my chin while flexing, forming an upside down V with forearms, so I had to shorten my grip drastically, with hands very close on the bar or from each other using separate weights. It’s a shame it took me so long to realize this, but I wouldn’t believe such a short grip was something good. Finally I spent days trying to figure out the best grip (for me) out of desperation as I was sick and tired of this stagnation and this was a revelation. I could have spare to much time and effort with much less volume if I knew this before. And I used to go heavy on the training up to a point having fucking bruises on the bicesp yet without even feeling them working. This could help others tall wide shoulders guys with relative shorter biceps like me.

  • Saw a recent video bagging you about your workouts with partial range….pretty turned off by them. Nothing you say has had a negative on my training…and I’ve completely readjusted it with all your tips on muscle groups. They work for me, so what have thry to complain about? Keep going mate…you’re helping us!

  • Your bicep insertion point is really high that’s why you have trouble with bicep gains but it is much easier for you to get big peaks so put in the effort and get them high it will make up for the lack of mass.

  • Is he talking to proper beginners cos I didn’t learn anything new,, he thinks we all train rubbish but I don’t see his arms breaking any tshirt

  • You’re basically NOT EMPHASIZING THE MISTAKES you’re emphasizing the NORMS of most people doing it. It’s actually not a mistake bro. These methods may not work for you but works great for others same as what you talked on the video. All these talks about common biceps exercises mistakes are history and not new to me at all.
    You could never go wrong with the principle of doing supersets in your gym exercises as to doing with overload principle in achieving muscle hypertrophy.

  • You didn’t explain the pre-posturing involved in the standing barbell curl so I’ll do it for you.
    Referring to the frontal plane: As you stand, picture yourself from the side. Draw an imaginary vertical line that goes through your ankle, knee, hip and shoulder. Next, bend your knees just enough to get them just about one to two inches in front of that line. Next, just barely stick your butt out behind you in that your center of your pelvis is one to two inches behind that line.
    Pull the shoulder blades towards your butt crack.
    Holding the bar, it’s gently resting against your legs. As you begin to raise the bar, pull the elbows back just a touch in that they are behind the imaginary line. Come up to where you feel the elbows trying to go forward (do not let them) and lower the bar slowly.
    Being that it’s a standing long (optional of course) bar curl the legs will interfere with the ability to get hair close to lockout, therefore, the elbows will move barely forward of the frontal plane line to achieve good lengthening in the eccentric phase of the movement.
    Repeat.

  • A little tip for those trying to get bigger bicep peak: wide grip curls. when you hold a (curved if needed) bar with a wide grip, it activates the short head of the biceps which will give you a bigger peak.
    Holding the bar with a narrow/close grip like most do, as in this video, it will put the emphasis on the long head of the bicep.

  • Straight the the point with NO BS! As someone who is only about 2yrs into bodybuilding I am still green in some ways, so I need videos like these!

  • I’m sorry but it would help if you indeed had big biceps. I’d say you’re about a year off decent peaks if you did indeed train them regularly.

  • Athleen-x these tecniques have helped me to improve my bicep form even more I’ve been doing the gym since April this year and before bicep curls were my weakest link now they are my favourite excerise my biceps are noticeably bigger and wider since April so are my tricep and other muscle groups if I didn’t watch your guides about gym form diet and injury guides I would be a stuck in a black hole not knowing what to do with lots of injuries aswell

  • I not often trust guys pretending to be trainers because I can see lack of knowledge, but this guy knows what he is talking about, I’ve been doing the little tricks he show us and yes they work perfectly. 1000 Thumbs up for his videos

  • You are incredibly knowledgeable and helpful, not to mention a very gifted teacher. I think I know know how I’ve been injuring myself! (Muscle spasms on neck and traps, and deltoid pain)Thank you very much! I absolutely love your channel.

  • Thank you for the excellent advice, it’s so easy to fall into these bad habits especially when you start to fatigue or lose concentration.

  • Anyone else feel a popping sensation in their biceps when they Flex them hard? Guess it could be said to be a similar feeling to pop rocks in the mouth but that feeling in the biceps, more less.
    : )Tyler
    Also wondering if Anyone knows what this sensation is, what is caused from.
    Thanks

  • And you don’t know what you’re talking about when it comes to training too heavy you have to put the muscle under stress both heavy and in the high rep range doing what are the other leaves half your money on the table.

  • Does this statement “Stop Sliding Elbows Forward” only apply to standing bicep curls? Because elbows are forward when doing preacher curls.

  • Please do an asthma compensation exercise, Sir Cavaliere. It would be a lifesaver.

    Its less intense asthma attack and more a sustained inflammation and consistent wounding of the airways from said inflammation and pulse rate increasing to compensate for the lower breathing efficiency.

  • I just realised why I’m getting so much pain in my shoulder and biceps near joint. Been doing it all wrong, thanks for the info guess I’ll have to let the muscles heal properly before I do anything heavy and properly this time.

  • I’ve always try to follow the 1 second up, 3 seconds down rule. That’s 1 second to curl the weight up, and 3 seconds to lower it back down.

  • So Technique, resistance and Force is a struggle, but no one has a perfect body and train on their way:s What is annoying that someone at the gym tells you how to do it like criticism:s

  • I observed that most guys with the biggest biceps in the gym do not curl in super robot strict style..They use heavyweights, cheating, half reps and mostly everything you said not to do..

  • Hii Jeff, I am facing the exact same problem only with my left arm, I have huge difference between my left and right arm like I can do 10 curls with my right arm with 12.5 kg dumbell but can’t do a single curl with my left arm even with 5 kg dumbell, it feels like my front delts locks my elbow, I can’t bend it at all… Plz help.

  • Simple, start with good form, and at the end of a series, if you cant finish it with good form help yourself with momentum. Yes your shoulders, forearms, chest and lats are gonna kick in, but your biceps will already be at their limit, so the limited engagment wont be a problem.

  • I’m a young adult female finding it hard to do bicep curls. I keep my elbows locked, dumbbells at a managble weight for ten reps, but I just don’t feel any tension when I contract the muscle. When I touch my bicep it feels like it’s moving, so I don’t get why I don’t feel anything, or feel like I am getting stronger. My weight is at 10lbs, which is embarrassing to admit. It’s weird though, when I did 40 reps on 4lbs I could feel actual tension near the end of the set. I also find it really hard to do push ups as well. I do eat a mainly meat based diet, high in protein.

  • I like cheating like this after i reach failure(I think it’s better than just stoping the exercise). I will watch more videos about mechanical drop sets to find alternatives for this.

  • Why your weights are not increasing? keep focusing on how you look. These videos are all about what you look like in the mirror and in a shirt 5 sizes too small. How about manning up and picking up the heavy weight. Lifting weights for how you look is for ladies

  • Jeff is starting to piss me off….I am training 25 years won all competitions and he knows 10000’s more than me.He is easy to listen to and makes every explanation make sense…..much respect i hope you are youtube rich as you deserve it……

  • Just found your channel �� how many sets on biceps would yo do Ryan I know you said twenty rep’ s.By the way your advice is working big time for an older man.

  • Okay im really down for 15-20 reps, but how do we progress? Lets say i got 3 sets of 20 reps this workout, should i increase the weight the next workout inorder to get another 3 set of 20’s?

  • “Weight lifting is a little bit more than just picking up weights and putting them down.” you know thats really true after you watch one of Jeff’s solution videos

  • would you please make a video on this bicep tendon injury? Not the other from shoulder side. What exercises can be done to avoid a rupture or worsening the tendon injury?

  • I’m a beginner and my biceps fatigue way too fast. I did bicep curls with 15 lbs as my working set. I do 7 1/2 lbs. To start warming up and do 12 reps, then I went for another warmup set with the same weight and my biceps completely burned out and I was like what the hell? So then I just did the one warmup set with 7 1/2 and went straight to my working set of 15 lbs. And I only was able to do like 6 before they burned out completely. What the hell is the problem?

  • Thats a great video, many ppl just see big bodybuilders using the heavy weight, so by watching them they think if they are able to work with that weight, they get as big as they are. They are working out their ego but not their muscles, the biceps isn’t really a big muscle group, so it don’t really need heavy weight and if somebody is able to really hit the biceps with a workout, they will notice that they don’t need heavy weights.
    I always say, if you do biceps curls, than elbows near to your body and they doesn’t move, shoulders back and than just flex the biceps without swinging the back.
    So doing some strict curls would be a good help to do that right

  • Would you say it’s a good idea to put your hand on the front delt so that if you happen to start bringing that up too high, you can manually keep it down with the other hand?

  • Many variations to one movement. Its only wrong if applied incorrectly. Not much anatomy application in this vid and seems like he watches ben pakulski (spelling?) and others like him.

  • I was doing bicep curls with 13+ kgs and almost never got sore after the workout. I tried this method doing half reps with 5kg!! for 15 reps and let me tell you after 15 minutes i couldn’t even flex my biceps. I felt the connection and the maximum muscle activation like never before, i wish I knew this tip years before ��thanks a lot dude ����

  • Constant tension is a good tool, but the biggest reason peoples biceps aren’t big is because they haven’t put the time in to build the clay. There’s not reason to focus on biceps until a trainee is handling respectable poundages for reps and sets in the squat, dl, a compound pull, and push, and by doing that have build substantial total body size. You’ve got to have cake before you frost it.

  • Solid words. I spent the better part of 35 years training the way the magazine heroes told me to. I’ve changed everything about what and how I work, which is good, because I have a small garage gym that doesn’t have all of the amenities of a commercial paradise. But, without a diet, without a standard exercise regimen, and without rules, I have been able to add some additional size to myself at 50.

  • I felt gritty sound in rt shoulder after doing pull ups pushups dumbells and chest work out is it normal or abnormal and what precaution must be taken

  • Tried this method today for the first time, instantly noticed the difference. Definitely looking forward to doing bicep excercises again. Thank you so much for this advice!!! Edit: Over 1 hour later and my biceps are still pumped.:)

  • Hate to say it but i was one of these dummies for quite a long time. I dropped the weight load and started focusing on both form and a concept I think this guy said in another video called Time-Under-Tension (TUT). Every resistance training workout I’m focusing on maximizing efficiency of full range of motion at a much lower weight than I used to throw around. My visual gains have jumped tremendously over the past 2-3 months.

  • I just do 1 arm at a time. It’s comfy for me that way. And I completely isolate the bicep by pressing my elbow against my hip. So those front delts are eliminated out of this exercise. It’s about putting the power where it needs to be and it needs to be in the ��.

  • What you are teaching about twisting your wrist..has been around for a long, long time. Old school is the way to truly build muscle.

  • Hoping you can answer/help as I not been to the gym for 4 days since yet.
    I pulled the back of my shoulder muscle last week doing side raises. Have slight pain in trap and rear delts area.
    Since that I lost 50 percent strengh in my left side doing bench and curls. Bench was like a wobble arm I couldnt hold stright and curls I just couldn’t do it. Even 20 kg I do 10 times for warm up I couldnt pull. (I normaly finish 30kg 10 times on curls. And that’s strict no arm movement or jerking)
    I had physio and he said he felt my one of my rear shoulder muscles wasnt firing but was after the phisyo.
    Do rear shoulder problems or trap affect curls like that. Just after another view as I just cant get my head around it all. Cheers
    I got home from.work till sunday so wont know if physio has worked till then. So cant stop running my head around it.

  • Ive watch many videos but this is far way too good at explaining the barbel curls failure. But may i ask? Is it normal that when i do this barbell curls my forearms will get harder and and harder rather than feeling the pain in my biceps.

    Ps: sorry for my english lol

  • Hahaha I see these mistakes all the time… When you were like squeeze that shit at the top, and you said really focus on the… I thought you were gonna say really fuckin squeeze

  • You guys miss an edit at 11:30?

    Good shit though, things I already avoid doing but the info at the end regarding each of the bicep muscles and related exercises was useful. Cheers

  • Thank you for the video. I started working out again 4 months ago but have always struggled to see gains. It’s also very hard for me to feel a real tight burn in my right bicep.
    I used the dumbbell grip you demonstarated & I definitely felt it this time.

  • You said a mistake is doing heavy weight how should I start off I’m a big guy it’s stressful thinking someone is like hey look at that big guy doing 20lbs

  • Lol, guilty. Haha. But yo, don’t call people idiots. A lot of people have the right attitude, they wanna become active and get in shape. Not everyone can afford Trainers or think to look up you tube videos, like this one, before going to the gym. So be kind. Also, im a swimmer and i do cross fit and still forget to stabilize with each rep. It happens. Solid video, thanks for the reminders.